Angola to start banning plastics in 19 months

 Luanda - The secretary of State for Environment, Abias Moma Huongo, said Thursday in Luanda that the National Plan for Banning Plastics in the country could begin in 19 months, with a budget of over 600 million kwanzas.

The minister justified the timeframe for its implementation taking into account the goal of doing a good job and benefiting from the ongoing process at international level, which intends to ban plastic pollution by the end of 2024.

 

Abias Moma Huongo made the statement at the end of the first meeting of the technical support group of the multidisciplinary work commission for the elaboration of the National Plan for the Banning of Plastics.

 

"Exactly what we want, as we draw up our plan, is to benefit from inputs from what happens internationally so that it is current and can respond to our needs", Huongo explained.

 

Huongo said that so far it is not possible for Angola to know the amount of plastics produced in the country, however the components of the plan preparation will enable us to know the volumes of the plastic produced and the main types.

 

He explained that the study will facilitate the adoption of measures to ban plastics and consequently their replacement by another product for producers, retailers and final consumers.

 

"If we want to ban it, the entrepreneur has to do something else that depends on studies, to safeguard his work and the direct and indirect jobs generated", Huongo said.

 

He then explained that despite the fact that the measure will cover the whole country, studies would be carried out  targeting 10 of the country's 18 provinces, depending on the amount of waste they produce.

 

The meeting has among several other objectives, to carry out research and studies needed to make a national diagnosis to learn the stage of pollution in which the country finds itself due to the abusive use of plastic.

Economy Ministry analyses proposals to support new PDN

 Luanda - The Ministry of Economy and Planning (MEP) is analysing the proposals for plans submitted by sectors and provinces to support the new National Development Plan (PDN/2023- 2027) to further issue technical opinions on compliance, the director for Public Private Partnerships (PPP), Augusto Dembo said Thursday.

After the analysis, the MEP will issue technical opinions of conformity, in terms of structure and content of the proposals, the director said,  during the MEP usual briefing.

 

"They are preparing the Sectoral Plans (PDS) and Provincial Plans (PDP) to support the new PDN, and will then issue technical opinions on conformity", Dembo said.

 

He added that the actions are part of the National Planning System continuous elaboration process of the main instruments that will guide the future of the country.

 

Among the instruments, he added, there is the Final Balance of the 2018-2022 PDN, which is in the process of gathering information from the technical bodies of the national planning system (sectoral GEPEs and provincial GEPs).

 

The official added it includes the Long Term Strategy "Angola 2025" and its extension to the horizon 2050, which is in a process of intersectoral and public consultation.

 

The meeting aimed to develop a methodology for defining the criteria for identification and selection of PPP projects, creation of a portfolio of PPP projects and preparation of the pre-feasibility study of a project.

 

The agreement has three components, namely Support to Public Finance Reform (Ministry of Finance-MINFIN), Support to the Public Business Sector and PPP (IGAPE and MEP) and Support to Financial Sector Reform (BNA).

 

Within the scope of the General Census of Population and Housing (RGPH), to be held throughout the national territory in 2024, the National Statistics Institute held a public consultation to obtain contributions to the questionnaire to be submitted to the population.

 

The event held under the slogan "Together We Count for Angola", aimed at obtaining valuable contribution from the academia in what will be the largest statistical operation to be carried out in the country.

National Assembly votes on draft resolution to send peace forces to DRC

 Luanda - The National Assembly (AN) will discuss and vote on the draft resolution that approves the request for authorization for the President of the Republic to send military peacekeeping forces to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The session will discuss the Authorization Request from the President of the Republic, as Commander in Chief of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA), about the sending of Military Contingent to Support Operations of the Peacekeeping Forces in the eastern region of the DRC.

 

The discussion and vote to take place during the 5th Plenary Extraordinary Meeting of the 1st Legislative Session of the 5th Legislature of the National Assembly (AN).

 

The specialized commissions of the AN approved on Wednesday the Joint Opinion Report of the referred Draft Resolution, whose legal tool  aims to ensure the process of cantonment of the military forces of the M23 group in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

 

In general, the aim of the Angolan mission will be to adopt the joint general plan for the resolution of the crisis in the east of the DRC, speed up the effective implementation of the Luanda roadmap, in coordination with the Nairobi process, for the promotion of security in the east of the DRC and the normalization of political and diplomatic relations with the Republic of Rwanda.

 

The Angolan contingent, which according to the work committees is due to remain in the DRC for 12 months, will comprise a FAA battalion and its components, as well as financial resources estimated at 11.2 billion kwanzas to be reallocated within the framework of the Defence and Security sector budget.

Uige Emeritus Bishop dies at 94

 Uíge - The Emeritus Bishop of the Uige Diocese, Dom Francisco da Mata Mourisca, died Thursday in Luanda at the age of 94 a victim of an illness, ANGOP has learnt through a death note issued by the Uige Diocese.

With civil name José Moreira dos Santos, D. Francisco da Mata Mourisca was born on October 12, 1928, in Mata Mourisca, from where he got his name, in Coimbra Diocese, Portugal.

 

D. Franciso da Mata Mourisca was named bishop of the Diocese of Uige, then Diocese of Carmona and S. Salvador, on March 14, 1967, at the age of 39, and ordained on April 30 of the same year, in Porto, Portugal.  

 

The Bishop belonged to the Capuchin Order of Friars Minor having been ordained priest in Porto on January 20, 1952.

 

Graduated in Dogmatic Theology at the University of Salamanca, Spain, in 1957, Msgr. Francisco da Mata Mourisca took up various leading positions in Portugal, among them that of Provincial Minister of the Capuchins.

Angola outlines plan to combat sexual violence against children

 Luanda - Angolan government plans to create an Action Plan to Prevent and Combat Sexual Violence against Children, as part of a new model of decentralisation of the social protection policy and municipalisation of social action.

The information was disclosed Wednesday by the secretary of State for Family and Women Promotion, Alcina Lopes Kindanda, at the closing ceremony of the National Campaign for Prevention and Combat of Sexual Violence against Children, which ran from March 2021 to March 2023.

 

Kindanda said that the proposal has already been formalised and that it is currently gathering more contributions.

 

The plan, Kindanda said, includes a set of relevant actions, whose objectives are based on the pillars of prevention, protection, combat and development that are part of the new municipalisation model of social action.

 

 The official added that during the two-year campaign several actions had been carried out, with emphasis on the awareness raising that covered an overall 4.5 million people.

 

Kindanda explained that at the beginning of the National Campaign for the Prevention and Combat of Sexual Violence against Children in 2021, the National Children Institute (INAC) registered in the whole country 1,141 cases of sexual violation against children, after one year of work in 2022, 4,706 cases of sexually violated children were registered.

 

The secretary of State said that in view of the work carried out, until this month,2,593 cases were registered, a significant reduction of almost half compared to 2022.

Unrest in Senegal as police clash with opposition supporters

 Ousmane Sonko, widely supported by Senegalese youth, is facing a civil libel case filed against him by Senegal’s tourism minister for alleged defamation and public insults.

Police and demonstrators clashed in Senegal’s capital Dakar on Thursday before a court case involving opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, who is widely supported by many of the West African country’s youth.

Law enforcement officers fired tear gas at hundreds of Sonko supporters as they trailed vehicles taking him to court for the resumption of a civil libel case against him by Senegal’s tourism minister for alleged defamation and public insults.

Protesters burned tyres in the streets and hurled stones at police. A large supermarket was set on fire, the reporters said.

Sonko, 48, is also charged with raping a beauty salon employee in 2021 and making death threats against her. He denies all wrongdoing and says the accusations are politically motivated. No date has been set for the trial.

Thursday’s skirmishes are the latest round of unrest in Senegal, where presidential elections are scheduled for February next year. The country has long been seen as a bastion of stability and democracy in a restive region, a reputation shaken by deadly violence over the last two years.

Much of the anger is targeted towards President Macky Sall, whose failure to rule out running for a third term in office has angered many. Senegal’s constitution only allows two terms, but some fear that Sall will use a recent tweak to the constitution to reset his mandate, a tactic used by other rulers to extend power in the region.

His government has also been accused of imprisoning dissidents and members of the opposition.

But many Senegalese youths have also been drawn to Sonko because of high unemployment and economic hardship.

This has led to sporadic and sometimes violent protests. Cries of “Macky Sall is a dictator” rang out in Dakar during one protest in July 2022.

Tensions have flared before Sonko’s court appearance this week, with three days of protest. More than 10,000 supporters gathered at a field in Dakar on Tuesday to cheer on Sonko, who hopes to run for president in February. The former tax inspector came third in the 2019 polls – the youngest candidate in that election.

Sonko supporters accuse Sall of seeking to eliminate him from the competition with a guilty verdict.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

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